The chief executive of wealth management at Royal Bank of Canada has moved his office from Toronto to London and said he is interested in making acquisitions in Europe.

Michael Lagopoulos, RBC's wealth chief, said: “My relocation signals RBC’s commitment to growing our wealth management business outside North America. London will provide us with a better line of sight to assess international opportunities.”

He said that RBC wanted to build its presence in the Middle East, Caribbean, Latin America and Asia, as well as Europe and North America: “We will be looking to leverage our strength to become a top 10 global manager.”

RBC’s wealth division currently administers C$500bn (€347bn) of assets across the world and directly manages C$150bn from 33 offices.

Lagopoulous said: “We are interested in building our international wealth business through acquisition in Europe, and the rest of the world. Over the last three or four years we have spent C$6bn, and we would be prepared to spend an additional C$1bn on any deal which would assist our distribution effort.”

He said RBC is also interested in hiring wealth specialists: “We took on 65 client advisers in 2006 and a further 42 so far this year.”

RBC’s domestic Canadian and US businesses will continue to be run locally, although North American citizens can choose to have their wealth managed internationally if they wise. RBC’s wealth division accounts for 15% of group profits, with international business accounting for a third of the division’s returns.